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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I finished rereading the Book of Mormon today, and was impressed by a few things.

I've been impressed by the Lord's urgent plea to us, His latter-day children, to avoid falling into the same traps as did the Nephite and Jaredite peoples which led them to destruction.

I was impressed by the idea that by faith we can become the "sons and daughters of God"--a topic which demands elaboration by further study.

I was again impressed by Moroni's 8 exhortations, all found in Moroni 10:

Remember how merciful the Lord has been to the children of Adam from the very beginning

Ask God if the Book of Mormon is true

Deny not the power of God

Deny not the gifts of God

Remember that every good gift comes of Christ

Remember that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that spiritual gifts will never cease or be done away so long as the world shall stand--except through unbelief

Remember the words of Moroni because at some point in time we will know, without a doubt, that he didn't lie

Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him

I was impressed by the stark contrast presented in Moroni 9 and 10: that is, the contrast between consummate evil and lack of civilization (chapter 9), and the standard of virtue and righteousness Moroni gives us (chapter 10). It's as though the diamond of Moroni 10 is set against the blackness of Moroni 9, thus we can more readily see the brilliance of the light of Christ as it shines forth through Moroni's final testimony to his brethren.

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I rejoice in this knowledge and pray that I may live true to it.

Thanks for the comment, Tracy, but you've failed to notify the readership of the nature of those changes, making your comment disingenuous, at best.

For those interested, there is a lot of excellent scholarship out there concerning the nature of the changes made to the text of the Book of Mormon between its original printing in 1830 and its current printing.

I'll link to some of that scholarship here.

Royal Skousen has probably proved himself the foremost expert on the text of the Book of Mormon. A few of his remarks can be found by following the link above (some of which I will link to below).

Bottom line is, Tracy, if you were hoping to shake my faith in the veracity, not to mention the relevancy, of the Book of Mormon by mentioning the indisputable, meticulously documented textual changes that have been made in the years since 1830--all of which have been faithfully reported and openly discussed by the Mormons themselves--then you will be disappointed. Very disappointed.

I wonder if you have even read the Book of Mormon yourself, Tracy. How is it that you would strain at a gnat such as this when you ought to know that a camel is much more palatable? But remember, instead of swallowing the camel whole, try eating it one bite at a time.

In other words, I claim that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, but don't take my word for it; check it out for yourself.